Indiana Deaths Linked to Legionnaires Disease, Possibly Hospital-Acquired Infection, Malpractice Lawyer Says

Mike Stephenson, a partner with McNeely Stephenson Thopy & Harrold, says too many hospital patients get sicker instead of better. Press Release - Feb. 18, 2014 - INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana University Health announced on February 4, 2014, that two patients in its Indianapolis hospital who were diagnosed with Legionnaires Disease have died. According to the Indy Star, IU Healths medical director of infection control, Dr. Douglas Webb, said they do not know whether both patients contracted the infection in the hospital, but the hospital is treating the water with biocide and flushing out the water system. According to the CDC, people get Legionnaires' disease from breathing air contaminated with water particles that contain Legionella bacteria. Each year an estimated 8,000 to 18,000 hospitalized cases of Legionnaires Disease occur in the U.S., with a mortality rate of 5 to 30 percent. While they havent determined yet whether these patients became infected with the disease while they were in the hospital, millions of patients do suffer from healthcare-acquired infections, said Mike Stephenson, an Indiana personal injury attorney who handles medical malpractice cases. Healthcare-acquired infections (HAI) are one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the U.S., killing more Americans each year than AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined, according to the nonprofit Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. These infections, often caused by negligence on the part of the facility or a caregiver, are disastrous not only for the victims and their families they have a terrible impact on the nations economy as well, costing the healthcare system (http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/pdfs/hai/Scott_CostPaper.pdf) from $35 billion to $45 billion each year, by CDC reckoning, Stephenson said. Hospitals and healthcare workers have a duty to do everything they can to prevent the spread of disease. Laziness and negligence which lead to sick patients becoming sicker, or even dying, are just not acceptable, Stephenson said. ABOUT MIKE STEPHENSON: Mike Stephenson, a partner with McNeely Stephenson Thopy & Harrold of Shelbyville, Indiana, near Indianapolis, has been successfully litigating personal injury cases, including medical malpractice claims, since 1981. He can be reached at 1-855-790-3305.

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